Andriy Parubiy: “The national security law does not just reform the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the whole security sector in line with NATO and EU standards; it is also a crucial step towards Ukraine’s NATO integration.”

Verkhovna Rada Committee on State Building, Regional Policy and Local Self-Government recommends Ukrainian Parliament adopt draft law "On amendments to some legislative acts of Ukraine" (as to voluntary unification of territorial communities) as a basis

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10 November 2017, 18:00

A.Parubiy: Echo of Day (Rada TV)

(&nbspInformation Department of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Secretariat&nbsp)

On “no ‘standby’ week”

“Every plenary
week is precious. It is important to work effectively, to organize the
Parliament proceedings in the most practical way – since the entire life of the
country is being covered with the ongoing reforms,” stressed Andriy Parubiy,
the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, in his interview to the
parliamentary Rada TV channel.

It was urgent for
today to approve the 2017 budget changes and provide budget subventions for housing
(rent) allowances and subsidies. And the Parliament was successful in that.

“It is essential
that we be in line with the timing set by law, not dragging out with the budget
approval until the New Year holidays. It would be great if we pan out with the 2018
budget issue in the early or mid-December,” stated the Chairman.

On three cinema laws

It is a great
achievement that we were able to adopt the three preferential laws for our
cinema since they have been designed to give a ponderable push to its development through
establishing favourable taxes and some other promoting breaks for a five-year
span of time. The Chairman then informed this year is to bring us some seventy
movies to be finished by the end of the year, and fifty more are scheduled for
the next year.

“The set of
boosting measures and preferences launched by the state ought to drive to a vigorous
release of the cinema energy accumulated in Ukraine – great actors, gifted film
directors, plenty of investors ready to place money in Ukraine’s culture and
cinema,” underscored A.Parubiy.

The Chairperson
reminded the Parliament has approved this plenary week 12 laws on the second
reading, eight first reading bills and two resolutions, which seems en masse to
show a good weekly performance.

On state property
privatization

“The state
property privatization law sets a clear privatization procedure applying
thereby in fact the best European practices,” said Andriy Parubiy, the Chairperson of the Parliament.

The law was one
of the week’s most important first reading issues taken recently under No.7066.
Nowadays, Ukraine ‘outruns’ the whole neighboring countries community in the
number of non-privatized enterprises. Until now, there have been no precise and
clear criteria for the privatization to avoid corruption and inefficiency. It is different at present. To the chairman’s mind, the law “is the major
enactment to streamline privatization procedures and to introduce the modern
tools of the process – market pricing, use of European arbitral authorities in privatization
litigations, ability to compete freely, etc.” Presently, the law adoption as
such does not in fact constitute the practical start of the privatization
process to the full extent, however it “paves a direct pathway to launching the
procedure allowing it to lure investors, to deliver a good owner and kill the
local venal practices which are still in use”.

“Adoption of the
law on the first reading was of significance to no end,” underscored A.Parubiy,
having then expressed his belief that the issue be rounded off by the end of
the year.

On Electoral Code

“The recently
approved first reading of the Electoral Code seems to be a powerful upward
mobility gear allowing it to involve new faces and actors into the political
system, in the Parliament, into the whole decision-making process,” said Andriy
Parubiy.

Adoption of the
code was the blanket insistence of
all the political wings in the House. There were five versions of the election
laws
clusters presented for a thorough consideration.

The
Chairman is convinced the newly adopted code (open list voting system) will standardize
the elections process at every level – from parliamentary to local. “It is the
most thorough and holistic product as of today in Ukraine ready well for the
second reading,” he said.

The
open list system gives an elector a tool to vote not only for a party chosen in
a crowd but also control the entire list of the party’s candidates by skimming
the cream off through a direct election to the Parliament.